Posted on by bunnyhugger

E. Michigan Ave., Bond Basile, undated

I might have walked past this one without taking notice a hundred times. It’s on the slab right in front of the IQ Fit building on the south side of East Michigan Avenue, between Francis and Mifflin. The concrete is in especially bad shape here, patched repeatedly with asphalt, so it is lucky that this stamp survives. It is undated, but could date to the construction of the adjacent building in 1959.

I have actually encountered this stamp just one other time, on the front walk of a house on South Pennsylvania, though only the word Basile was legible. Looking back at that one, the placement does suggest another word was probably worn away in front, so it probably also read Bond Basile. Unfortunately, I know nothing of the contractor, despite searching.

The stamp is on the nearest block that touches the vertical siding, facing the road.
Posted on by bunnyhugger

S. Pennsylvania Ave., Basile, undated

This stamp is on the front walk of a house on the west side of South Pennsylvania Avenue between Eureka and Prospect, the next house south from Monday’s F.N. Rounsville stamp.

I don’t recognize the contractor name and I’m not confident about it. It looks like “Basile” but there might be something worn away before that. I haven’t yet found a surefire match to the name. The best lead I have is that there is, or was, a company in Livonia called Peter A. Basile and Sons. In fact, I have just learned I am not the only person in Michigan taking photos of sidewalk stamps, as someone on Flickr has posted a photograph of a Peter A. Basile and Sons stamp in Detroit. And that led me to the very startling discovery of an entire Flickr pool of sidewalk stamps. Unfortunately, the last posting to its discussion board is someone a year ago complaining that the group admin has gone silent and it is no longer possible to get photos approved for the pool.

Looking north on Pennsylvania. The stamp is at the foot of the front walk.

Update 5/12: Based on one I found on East Michigan Avenue, this probably originally read “Bond Basile.”